The
cRh'crhChrich capital, as well as any other city that entertained the thought
of resistance, was in flames. The scent
of their roasting flesh wafted through the courtyard on which Khyssher waited. A lesser servant/tool of S'sskylklya would
be drooling but Khyssher had better control over himself, and it would not be
appropriate to do so in front of his Lord.
He had waited, kneeling, for close to a half-quarter, face staring at
the tiles and perfectly still as lesser servants gathered the still living
leaders of this world. He continued to
wait as his lord progressed through the passage of rulership, whereupon
the leader caste of the conquered land would be ingested and slowly digested
inside his Greatness. They would feed
and sustain his Lord; digestion would be slow, the fluids would take anywhere
from an arcon to a quarter-relv, depending on the vastness of the caste and the
individual mass of its member species.
The ceremony concluded and S'sskylklya slowly approached his subject.

Khyssher felt
his Lords' eyes upon him and he waited to be recognized.

"Your
duty again concludes successfully."
Khyssher showed no outward display of emotion but inside he shivered in
pleasure at the sound of his Lord's voice, "My victory offers another base
for expansion," a pause, "and to organize the oblivion of my enemies. This world holds resources we can use;
unfortunate that the dominant species shows such little value. It matters not; the Khanate will still fall,
like all others before them. A new
cycle of your function begins anew.
Rise and gaze upon your God."

Khyssher
obeyed. He almost fell to his knees and
screamed his unworthiness to gaze upon such a Glorious presence, but for the
self-control built into him. He noticed
the slight bulge in his Lord's flawless hide, a meal not worthy of such a being
- but he would not mention this. He
felt pleasure warm spread through himself as he noticed S'sskylklyas' two sets
of eyes focused on him intensely, he knew of no other who had actually captured
his lords attention so fully.

"Your
complement is creating a path to another plane for domestication, you will
depart in one-quarter." Khyssher
could feel their time together coming to an end, he felt sadness.

"As you
command Supreme One."

S'sskylklya
was departing before Khyssher even spoke, but this was to be expected and he
watched the ground rather than disrespect his God by speaking to him directly.

One-quarter
passed. Khyssher was completely cleaned
and rested in half that time. He
collected the weapons already in his possession when he came to the present
world, consoling himself that that would be better than to return to a
stronghold for something better and thus go against his Lords' instructions. A long coat made of zinthathi leather
covered his body and a satchel at his side was full of essentials. Other than that Khyssher needed no more
clothing, for carrying purposes nor for protection. He located Riggaala, his complement, and approached her for
instructions.

She gazed at
him with a mixture of jealousy and yearning.
She too had the traveling instinct built into her. But she was meant to find and transport to
new worlds while he was meant to explore.

"I have
found another victim for our lord."

Anger swept
through Khyssher. "Is there doubt
in His grand design?"

She slanted
her head as if pondering something and stared back at him. "Don't you ever question your
purpose?"

Khyssher
began to speak but she continued, cutting him off. "Look at all the death around you! Is this the grand design!?
You know what these creatures will be a relv from now, nothing more than
the simplest of tools. Is there nothing
past the next conquest?"

"You
shouldn't speak like that. He gave us
life, He gave us purpose; He is the only thing that matters in any
world."

Riggaala lost
the determined look and nodded, "Forgive my outburst, it is merely
fatigue."

They had been
used increasingly in the last quin-relv, Riggaala would be especially
susceptible to mental fatigue considering her duties. "It is forgiven.
Why…" Khyssher stopped himself from asking why she thought so
poorly of what they did, such a focus was curious even considering the
fatigue. Curiosity, of all things, was
hard-wired into both of them so he felt no shame in asking questions. Riggaala had clearly let it get control of
herself however.

"I hope
you come back safely, Khyssher."

"As do
I."

The area in
front of them seemed to ripple, and then swirl. Finally, what could be described as a rip appeared, nothing but
blackness was seen through it. Khyssher
stepped through it, unafraid, as he had done many times before.

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